Between the Lines: Film, Critique

15.02.2017 - Senem Aytaç, Rasha Salti, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik

In its 15th year, Altyazi is a monthly publication and website noted for its promotion of Turkish and international independent cinema and its revival of critical discourse within film culture. Altyazi editor Senem Aytaç details how the story of the publication proves that the role of criticism in generating discourse is more important today than ever. Joining her is director and critic Ceylan Özgün Özçelik, who celebrates the world premiere of her film Inflame (Panorama), a psychological thriller that portrays how the slippery grasp on truth and what is real unravels for a young journalist. Set against the backdrop of deteriorating media freedoms in present-day Turkey, Aytaç and Özçelik explain how their works shape spaces for critique and open the doors for free expression to emerge.

Experts

Senem Aytaç

Senem Aytaç is a Turkish film critic and academic. After graduating in Psychology from Middle East Technical University in Ankara, she completed her MA in Film and Television at Istanbul Bilgi University. She worked there as a teaching assistant from 2001 until 2005, and lectured at various institutions afterwards. She has been the editor of the monthly film magazine Altyazi since 2006, and continues to organize and teach film seminars and workshops.

Rasha Salti

An independent curator of art and film, Rasha Salti lives and works between Beirut and Berlin.

Ceylan Özgün Özçelik

After studying law at Marmara University in Istanbul, Ceylan Özgün Özçelik worked as a TV writer and radio DJ. She produced, wrote and hosted a TV show on cinema called “Climax”, which aired for ten years. She has written film reviews for a variety of magazines and newspapers, and published a book of interviews, “Silence, We’re Rolling!”, in 2013. She has written, directed and produced three shorts and one feature, and is currently working on a dark comedy about women and violence.